A Wet Rescue
by jpaez
Summary: A young girl finds herself in a dangerous situation. Zorro puts his own life in danger to save her.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own the rights to Zorro or any of the Zorro characters. All rights belong to the creators of Zorro, and this story is for entertainment purposes only. Thank you so much for helping me DietMaryJo.**

**A Wet Rescue**

**Chapter 1**

Zorro was out patrolling near the ocean when he heard someone yell for help. He looked around and spotted someone trapped between two large rocks. He rode quickly down the beach and jumped off Toronado's back.

"Stay still, I'm coming to get you." Zorro yelled over the crashing waves and wind.

"Help!" The trapped victim yelled.

Zorro pulled his cape, hat, and gloves off. He located a safe place to reach the rocks and jumped in the water. He swam over to the large rocks and climbed up the side and worked his way over to the trapped person still in the water.

"Reach for my hand, I will pull you up." He laid down on his stomach and looked over the edge of the rock. The water splashed him in the face, making it hard to see where he needed to reach.

"My foot is stuck between the rocks." The trapped victim cried out with panic.

"I am going to climb down and free your foot." Zorro replied as he carefully lowered himself over the edge of the slippery rock. As he came closer to the trapped person, he could see it was a young girl around the age of 10. Her head was above the water, but each wave pulled her farther under.

"I am next to you, reach for my hand." Zorro yelled so she could hear him. He felt small fingers wrap around his large fingers. He carefully made his way over the slippery rocks and wrapped his arm around her small waist to keep her above water.

"You will be on dry land before you know it." He told the young girl while he tried to free her foot.

"Ouch." The girl yelled when her foot was freed from the rocks.

"Climb onto my back and hold on tight." Zorro instructed her and helped her the best he could.

When she was holding on tight, he carefully climbed up the slippery rocks until they were out of the waves.

"We need to reach the edge of this rock wall and swim to the beach. Can you walk?" Zorro pointed toward the edge of the rock wall.

"I will try to walk." The girl replied with pain as she slid down off of his back.

Zorro helped her as they slowly and carefully walked over the slippery surface. He looked down over the edge of the rock wall.

"I am going to lower myself down first, then I will reach up and help you down." Zorro patted the young girl on the shoulder and carefully lowered himself down to the flat rock below him.

"Sit down and carefully slide to the edge. I promise I will catch you." He reassured her and reached up.

"I'm scared. I don't want to fall." The girl started to cry.

"You are not going to fall. I am right here to catch you." Zorro calmly called up to her.

He saw her eyes grow big as she shook head.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Wet Rescue**

**Chapter 2**

The waves almost took his feet out from underneath him. He grabbed onto a rock poking out and pulled himself up against the rocks.

'Climb down and I will catch you." He called up to her when he regained his footing.

The young girl slowly slide to the edge and tried to lower herself on her stomach. She slid on the wet rocks and fell over the edge. Zorro caught her by the arm and pulled her up next to him.

"Shh, shh, you are safe now." He tried to calm the crying child down.

"We need to swim to the beach." He calmly said as he sat down and lowered himself down into the water. He reached up and helped the young girl down and pulled her close to his body so she would stay above water.

"We are going to be swimming over to that still part next to the beach." He pointed out to her.

They swam slowly until they reached the beach. Zorro picked the young girl up and carried her over to a dry rock and set her down carefully.

He went to get his cape, hat, and gloves.

He wrapped his dry cap around the cold and shivering girl, " This should help warm you up." He rubbed his hands up and down her freezing arms.

"We need to get you home. Where do you live?" Zorro asked as he started to look for some food in his saddle bags.

"Just over that hill. Mama sent me down here to wash the laundry. I got hot, so I thought it would be fun to swim, but it only got me in trouble." The young girl started to cry again.

He was not sure what to do now. He had a crying child that was wet and needed to get home. If he rode with her all wet she could catch a cold.

"What's your name?" Zorro asked her as he handed her a chunk of bread.

She ate the bread slowly and watched him pack the rest of the bread away in his saddle bag.

"My name is Catalina." She spoke quietly when he turned around to check on her.

"Nice to meet you Catalina. My name is Zorro." He smiled warmly as he introduced himself to her.

"How did you find me Zorro?" Catalina asked between bites of bread.

"I was patrolling the beach when I heard you cry for help." Zorro pulled the silk cape tighter around the girl when she started to shiver again.

"Thank you for helping me. Next time I will follow Mama's orders." Catalina smiled slowly and looked down at the ground.

Zorro noticed her shyness and laughed.

"Let me take a look at your foot." He sat down on the beach and slowly lifted her foot to rest it on his knee.

"Ouch." Catalina cried out in pain when her foot moved to much to one side.

"It feels like it might be a broken ankle, but I will have the doctor look at it as soon as possible." Zorro carefully set her injured foot down on the rock.

"I will be right back. I need to get a few supplies to bandage your ankle properly." He rushed off to gather a few strong sticks and a strip of cloth from his saddle bag.

Catalina watched him rush off with thankful eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Zorro returned quickly, and bandaged her ankle so it would not move around to much when she moved.

"Can you take me home please?" Catalina asked with pain in her eyes. My bed is so much more comfortable than this hard rock.

"Ok, but since you are still shivering, I will ride slow. The wind will only make you shiver more if we ride to fast." Zorro whistled for Toronado.

Toronado came running down the beach and stopped next to Zorro. Catalina jumped a little when she saw how big the stallion was up close.

Zorro carefully lifted her up onto the saddle and climbed up to sit behind her.

They rode slowly and as they came over a small hill, Zorro saw a rider coming towards them. As the rider came closer, Catalina yelled out, " Papa."

Her father stopped next to Zorro's horse and reached for his daughter. "We were worried about you. Are you alright?" His eyes scanned her for injuries. Zorro helped him sit her down on her father's horse.

"I am fine. Zorro helped me get free from the rocks." Catalina replied tiredly.

"Rocks? What Rocks?" His eyes filled with worry.

"I found her trapped between two rocks while I was patrolling the beach." Zorro replied calmly. "I put a brace on her ankle so it would not move around to much. Get her home and into dry clothes. I will send for the doctor so he can check her over." Zorro said before he was about to leave.

"Thank you Zorro." Catalina's father replied quickly and turned his horse toward home.

Zorro followed Catalina and her father until they reached their ranch and then headed home. He needed to get home and change into dry clothes before he caught a cold. He would not be much help to the people of Los Angeles if he was sick.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Felipe was pacing the cave when Zorro came in the secret outside entrance. He looked at Zorro with worried eyes and began to sign quickly.

"I am fine Felipe. I need to get out of these wet clothes and warm up before I catch a cold. "Please take this note to the doctor." He quickly wrote a note and handed it to Felipe. "Go quickly, I will explain later."

Felipe left the cave, and when Zorro was alone, he dried off and changed into dry clothes.

Diego made sure the library was empty and exited the cave through the fire place. " I will have a lot of explaining to do if I get sick." Diego muttered to himself as he went to his room and laid down. He pulled the covers up to his chin and his shivering soon stopped. He went to sleep for a few hours and woke up with a fever.

The doctor was sitting by his bed when he woke up. " Diego calm down and relax. You need to rest." The doctor patted him on the arm lightly.

Several days later, Diego sat up in bed and stretched his long limbs.

"Look who woke up." Victoria replied with a worried smile from the door way.

"Victoria, what are you doing here?" Diego asked as he quickly pulled the blanket back up to his chin. He realized he only had a light pair of trousers on.

"I heard you were sick and made you some of my special soup. Are you feeling better?" She tried to hide her smile at his display of shyness.

"Yes, much better, thank you." Diego blushed when Victoria's eyes came to rest on his exposed shoulder, and covered it up quickly.

"I will get the doctor. He stayed in a guest room while you were feverish." Victoria giggled to herself as she left the door way.

A few moments later the doctor came in and examined Diego. "You were very brave a few days ago. Catalina will be just fine, and her ankle was broken." The doctor said as he looked Diego over. "Her parents are very thankful you were patrolling the beach that day. They would also like to thank Zorro in person." The doctor smiled as Diego flinched.

"I will ride out there when I am well enough to ride, but for now I need to rest." Diego jumped as the doctor pushed on his shoulder.

"The masked man is going to stay in bed and rest without a fight." The doctor sounded surprised.

"Yes, he is, I am of no use the people if I am sick and dizzy. I am also unable to move without Victoria watching my every move." Diego slid back down under the covers and relaxed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

A week later, Diego went to his cave and dressed in his Zorro clothes. He was about to leave when he heard Victoria calling for him in the hacienda. "Diego De La Vega, where are you? You should be in bed resting your shoulder." She called throughout the whole hacienda.

He felt bad for sneaking out, but Victoria had been hovering over him for close to a week and he needed his space.

He smiled to himself and quietly left the cave. He would have to explain where he went when he returned.

He rode to Catalina's family ranch. He quietly rode up to the door and jumped down from Toronado's back. He heard the sounds of children playing around the corner of the house. He peeked around the corner and saw Catalina sitting on a chair with her ankle propped up on a short stool. Her brothers and sisters were playing a game of tag under the watchful eye of their mother.

Zorro quietly slipped around the corner and tapped Catalina on the shoulder. "Zorro, you came to see me." Catalina jumped with excitement.

"I came to check on you. How is your ankle?" He laughed at her surprised and excited expression.

"It is much better. The doctor said to stay off of it for a few weeks, and then I can slowly put weight on it." Her smile was big and bright.

"That is great news." Zorro replied with a happy smile when he saw her face light up.

The rest of the children ran over to them and got very excited when Zorro greeted them with his warm and friendly smile.

"Thank you for saving my daughter. She means the world to me." Catalina's mother spoke up when the excitement settled down.

"It was my pleasure. Maybe next time she will follow directions and stay out of trouble." Zorro replied with a stern look but pleasant smile

"She has learned her lesson." Her mother replied and looked at Catalina.

"Will you stay for dinner?" Catalina's mother asked before she headed toward the door.

"I would love to, but I need to get back to my home." Zorro replied with a polite smile.

"Maybe another day." Catalina's mother asked hopefully.

"Yes, perhaps another day." Zorro turned around to leave.

He jumped up onto Toronado's back and slowly walked to the front of the house. He waved at the excited children and was quickly out of sight.

Zorro rode back to his cave and changed. He made sure Victoria was not in the library and quietly went to his room. He climbed into bed and went to sleep.

"Diego De La Vega, where have you been?" Victoria yelled when she saw him sleeping in his room.

Diego jumped and looked around. "Victoria, I can explain." Diego sputtered out in panic.

"Then start explaining." Victoria glared at him and sat down with her arms across her chest.

"Victoria, I…." Diego tried to come up with a good explanation for his disappearance.


End file.
